5 Documentaries That Inspired Real Change

Proof That Movies Can Help Make The World A Better Place

As a guest of Stella Artois at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, AskMen was on hand to watch Stella Artois and Water.org announce a multichannel initiative to help spread the word about the global water crisis through new “Buy A Lady A Drink” chalices which provide five years of clean water to a woman in a developing world for every glass purchased. In addition, Stella Artois is partnering with 2015 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Winner Crystal Moselle and Academy Award-winning producer Fazeelat Aslam to create three documentaries highlighting how clean water can positively impact women's lives in Haiti, Kenya and Peru.

Both Moselle and Aslam spoke about how they traveled to Haiti and met Marie, a midwife living in a community with no access to clean water. Despite this, her resolve and love of life was so infectious it inspired the first part of their documentary series entitled Waterfront, which debuts on World Water Day — March 22, 2016.

Film is a powerful platform offering talented and passionate directors the opportunity to leave their mark and raise awareness about issues that need to be exposed to a larger audience if real progress is to be made.

But can a movie really inspire lasting change?

If you doubt the reach and power of the medium, we’ve put together a list of five documentaries that inspired change whether it be for a community, a nation or the entire world.

Super Size Me

Roadside Attractions

The McDonalds menu is notorious for not serving the healthiest of meals, yet for decades customers ignored the possible health hazards that came with consuming a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder on a regular basis. It took 2004 documentary Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock to illustrate the dangers of eating like this on a regular basis. His experiment, where he ate McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner for an entire month, and its results were so horrific that the fast food chain dropped its “Supersize” option just six weeks after the film’s release, and have since started to offer healthier options on their menu. It didn’t change the world, but even the smallest wins are better than none at all.

Blackfish

Magnolia Pictures

As a kid, SeaWorld seems like the perfect place to spend a day with the family at. Little did most of the public know that the treatment of the whales was so poor that it led to several incidents, including the death of three people. This 2013 documentary directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite impacted the public on such a large scale that several laws and acts banning entertainment-related captivity of orca were proposed and passed. Attendance at SeaWorld has since plummeted, and just this past November SeaWorld announced they plan to abolish all killer-whale shows at their San Diego location.

The Age of Stupid

Spanner Films

While more of a documdrama than a straight documentary, the 2009 British film directed by Franny Armstrong features a man living on a ravaged earth in the year 2055. He watches real footage of how badly we treated our planet in the years leading up to his future, and follows six people around the world who are each personally affected by global climate change. The film led to the creation of 10:10, a charity dedicated to the reduction of carbon emission and aiding in finding a solution to global climate change. The film asks the question “Why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?” and because of The Age of Stupid and initiatives like 10:10, we’re taking steps in the right direction to do so.

Bowling For Columbine

United Artists

Although it can be argued that Michael Moore’s 2002 documentary didn’t completely shake the landscape of the country — as gun violence remains very prominent in today’s news — it was integral in putting gun control at the forefront of the American popular conscience. In one of the film’s most poignant moments, Moore takes two Columbine victims to a Michigan KMart to claim refunds on bullets that remain lodged in their bodies from the tragic Columbine school shooting. Eventually, a spokesperson at KMart says they’ll change their policy and end the sale of handgun ammunition in their stores. A shocked Moore claims, “We’ve won” and, although this is true in the case of this battle, the war over gun control is unfortunately far from over.

Gasland

HBO

This 2011 Academy Award nominated documentary enlightened the public on a form of natural gas drilling called “fracking” that affects American communities in the areas being drilled. Fracking injects a combination of water, sand and chemicals into the ground in order to crack open rocks that contain natural gas and oil, and the process may lead to water contamination and even earthquakes. The film sparked an increase in online searches, social media outrage and news coverage on a subject that very little of the world knew about. After several screenings around the country and an airing on HBO, there was a noticeable rise of anti-fracking events, which have since transformed from a grassroots movement to a full-fledged national one, and Gasland is largely credited with starting the conversation.